Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Winter will be here before you know it! I will be storing my boat in a cave (65-70 degrees) however I'll be using the boat a few times this winter. I plan on changing fluids however what other things would you recommend doing to your outboard before winter? I have a 4 stroke 90hp outboard that propels us around on the lake.

Thanks for your help!

If you're not going to drain the fuel out, then I would be sure to use some sort of good fuel stabilizer. There are a lot of good ones out there, startron, stabil and pri g come to mind.. I personally use Pri G and it seems to have worked well for me, but I have friends that use stabile and startron and they seem to be satisfied as well. Personal preference.

I'd be looking to fill the tank with 100% gasoline and a stabilizer. Try to avoid 90/10 gasoline.

I've been changing fluids yearly, but I've only put 16 hours on my boat this year. With Mobil 1 Extended Performance motor oil, I'm just going to go another year.

I never thought of storing a boat in a cave. You're lucky to have it.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'd figure gas stabilizer was on the list. I'm thinking about oil change and change the oil in the lower unit. Since I'll be using the boat on an occasion in the winter fishing I have a concern about water in the motor freezing going to and from the lake. Thoughts on how I could prevent this from happening? I'm a rookie at the Boat ownership.

Thanks!

[quote="PontoonChris"]Thanks for the suggestions! I'd figure gas stabilizer was on the list. I'm thinking about oil change and change the oil in the lower unit. Since I'll be using the boat on an occasion in the winter fishing I have a concern about water in the motor freezing going to and from the lake. Thoughts on how I could prevent this from happening? I'm a rookie at the Boat ownership.

Thanks![/quote]

If stored in the DOWN position ALL water will self drain and there is no worry about freezing. If stored in the tilled UP position there is a SLIGHT chance for a small amount of water to become trapped in the foot itself and in a extreme cold this could be an issue. I my boat stays wet 24/7 on a TN lake and I keep my foot up year round to prevent growth and while we have some limited amount of freezing weather I've not had any issues.

Pull the prop and check for fishing line around seal. Regrease propshaft before reinstalling prop. I also pull the steering nut, pull cable out and squirt white grease in tube. My boat is 13 and still steer swith a finger

[quote="PontoonChris"]Winter will be here before you know it! I will be storing my boat in a cave (65-70 degrees) however I'll be using the boat a few times this winter. I plan on changing fluids however what other things would you recommend doing to your outboard before winter? I have a 4 stroke 90hp outboard that propels us around on the lake.

Thanks for your help![/quote]

Which caves? I used to pick up recyclables from some of the KC Area Caves.

For those who've never seen some of them, they're truly some great places to store stuff or have warehousing operations in.

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